Canning Fresh Tomatoes

I can clearly remember being sent into the cellar of my grandparents row home to grab a Ball jar of canned fruits and veggies. Inside of a large cabinet sat jars and jars of tomatoes, "sauce", peaches, basically anything that was in season during the summer months.

A few years ago my mom canned 20 lbs of organic Jersey tomatoes and they were amazing! Although the process takes a lot of time the end result is totally worth it!

My father-in-law got us 25 lbs of Roma tomatoes from Procacci Brothers in South Philly so it seemed like a good opportunity to attempt canning once again. We did a mixture of pint and quart jars of whole tomatoes and used the ones that were a little bruised to make sauce which we also canned.

Be sure to follow all steps as improperly canned products can grow bacteria and lead to botulism.

I am including the Tomato Sauce Recipe below the instructions for Canning

Canning Instructions

STEP 1: Peeling Tomatoes

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Score the bottom of each washed tomato with an x and drop into boiling water. Blanch for one minute, remove and place in an ice bath. The skin should easily peel off. You can halve, quarter, chop etc we used whole tomatoes.

STEP 2: Sanitize Jars

You can either use the sanitize setting on the dishwater or use the boil method which we did. Fill canning pot with water and bring to a boil. Place jars in water and boil for 10 mins.
It is helpful to have canning tools for this process as well as the rest of the canning process. 
Remove jars and allow to cool. Drop lids into water and boil for 10 mins.

STEP 3: Filling Jars

Boil a fresh pot of water as you fill jars with tomatoes-

POUR 1 TBSP BOTTLED LEMON JUICE IN PINT JARS and 2 TBSP BOTTLED LEMON JUICE IN QUART JARS.

Add tomatoes pressing down to remove air bubbles.  You can also add fresh basil, or other herbs. Top off with boiling water leaving 1/2" head space.

Wipe the rims of mason jars removing particles as they can interfere with the seal.

Place lid on top of jar and finger tighten the ring around the lid.

STEP 4: Sealing the Jars

Fill canning pot with water and bring to a rolling boil. Add the insert and place bottles inside. Lower the insert into the pot and boil jars for 45 mins you may need to do this in batches. The jars should not come in contact with the bottom of the pot so using the insert is important.

STEP 5: Cool Down

Allow jars to cool on a heat resistant surface. This may take several hours. Once they are cool tighten rings, label with date canned and what the contents are and store in a cool, dry, dark place. Use within 1 year but they probably won't last that long!
Do not use any jars that are not sealed properly or look like the lid has popped up. 

Fresh Tomato Sauce

This does not have to be made for canning purposes but we canned ours.

15-20 Roma Tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
10 leaves of fresh basil
1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
4 cloves of garlic chopped
1 medium yellow onion chopped
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 tbsp sugar
salt ans pepper to taste
crushed red pepper optional

1. Boil a large pot of water, wash tomatoes and score bottoms with an x. Drop tomatoes into water and blanch for 1 min. Remove and place in an ice bath. Peel and chop tomatoes.

2.  Heat olive oil in a pot. Add onion and garlic and saute until translucent.

3. Add tomatoes, red wine, parsley, basil, sugar, salt and pepper, and crushed red pepper. You may need to adjust the sugar if tomatoes are more acidic or if you like a sweeter sauce.

4. Allow to simmer for at least an hour.

You can then follow the canning process above- sanitize jars, add lemon juice, fill with sauce leaving 1/2" head space, seal and boil for 45 minutes.

OR

Enjoy over your favorite macaroni!

Summer Spaghetti

This post is a little late as we are approaching the end of summer but luckily these ingredients can be found throughout the year. This dish is extremely easy to prepare, is ready in less than 30 minutes, and healthy! I highly recommend using fresh pasta if you can get it(or make it!) If you want to add nutritional value to this recipe use a whole wheat pasta. 

We enjoyed ours with a crusty bread from Wolff's Apple House which is also where all of the veggies came from for this dish.

Summer Spaghetti

1 package fresh pasta (we used Scaramuzza Spaghetti)

2 yellow or green summer squash thinly sliced

2 red peppers chopped

1 large onion chopped

1 bag baby spinach

4 cloves of garlic diced

4 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup grated Locatelli or Parmigiano Reggiano

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

crushed red pepper flakes optional

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to a boil

2. Add onions, squash, red peppers, garlic, season with salt and pepper and saute until translucent

3. Add spinach and cook until just wilted- remove from heat

4. Cook pasta according to instructions

5. Once cooked and strained pour pasta into a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil

6. Add vegetables and mix 

7. Top with 1/4 cup grated cheese

Buon Appetito!